February Blues

The February blues on Alcatraz are anything but blah. The range of bluish purple flowers in the gardens is very rich and complements many of the orange and yellow blooming plants.

Just on our small island, there are a number of plants in bloom right now in the same shades.

Echium candicans, pride of Madeira,

Pride of Madeira, Echium candican. Photo by Shelagh Fritz

has been blooming for over a month now, mainly on the west side of the island where they are loved by hummingbirds. A survivor garden plant, one seed landed by chance in the rose terrace, right alongside another survivor, Muscari

Grape hyacinth. Photo by Shelagh Fritz

armeniacum, grape hyacinth. Seeing the same shade of purple blue but in drastically different plants adds to the richness of the garden. The seedpods Muscari can be left to stand to add more interest to the garden, plus they also multiply themselves.

Vinca major, periwinkle, is another survivor in bloom now. This common groundcover is often forgotten as it is pretty common to see, and can even spread itself into places you rather it not go. When photographed against yellow lichen on a concrete wall, it really does catch your eye.

Periwinkle. Photo by Shelagh Fritz

Our dutch iris, ones that grow from a bulb instead of a rhizome, are just beginning to flower on the rose terrace. A few original bulbs were found growing in this garden so we planted more of ‘Sapphire Beauty’ in a raised bed in front of the greenhouse. The yellow flame looks great with California poppy and yellow Calendula or daffodils.

Dutch iris ‘Sapphire Beauty’. Photo by Shelagh Fritz

A new plant for Alcatraz is the native California lilac, Ceanothus. This shrub has many cultivars and we chose ‘Julia Phelps’, that will hopefully reach its full size of 7′ tall and 9′ wide. The flowers are a dark indigo color and this cultivar is suppose to be one of the best bloomers. We planted it at the top of the cellhouse slope and even with the sparse rain this winter, it is already blooming. Perhaps one negative for this plant is that we are also noticing seagull feathers collecting on the leaves. But, the dark blue flowers will look great with the pink persian carpet.